Horrible restaurant experience!

DH is off today and we decided to go for lunch.We went to a buffet at a local restaurant. I was given a medical card from my Dr. for restaurants to be able to order child or Sr.Citizens menu. The first part of this nightmare,I handed the waitress the card and she took it to the manager as they always do for apporval,The manager was "out" and they would not honor the card without permission. Soooooooooooo I thought okay I will just order a cup of soup DH ordered the Buffet,the waitress in a VERY ****y tone said to me "I just want to let you aware that there is NO SHARING food from others plates,if you want something you must order the buffet. I was furious (but did not make a scene) I said to her,well I have NO INTENTION of eating my husbands food,I would order if I wanted to,since you will not honor my medical card I am forced to have just a cup of soup,that is about all I can eat at a sitting. She looked at me and said okay "just so you know" and walks away........... well,they have a station in the middle of the restaurant for the servers with the drinks and silverware and basically were they hang out when they are not busy.We were sitting across from it. The waitress goes over there and says to the other girls,people are so cheap! and she told the story of my "cup of soup"......... DH and I were ready to flip out!! I got up walked over to the station and let her have it,in a way that I did not make a scene of course I am not like that...I told her that I had gastric bypass and that is why I can't eat...not that I am "cheap" and that she had no right to bad mouth me the way she did.She had no idea what my situation was and had no right to jugde me,BTW........I was totally insulted that she called me cheap! who would not be??? Before she could answer the manager came back and came over and I told him the entire story of what happened,she denied she said any of it,well another couple sitting my us came over and told the manager she way lying and they heard and saw the entire episode. He was so appauled by what she said! ironically he is 6 years out from gastric bypass surgery ( talked for about a 20 minutes before we left the restaurant)he was so apologetic and nice about it and guess what? she got fired on the spot! He refused to let us pay for our dinner and gave us vouchers for dinner for 4 free next time we came. Even though everything was okay by the end,I am still in a rage over this,can you imagine? some people are unbelievable! Bad enough before surgery you can't go to a restaurant without the "stares" or fitting in the booth and now you can't even order a darn cup of soup without being ridiculed for it. This experience has really left a bad taste in my mouth ( no pun intended). The way I feel now I never want to see the inside of a restaurant again! Sorry about the long post I just needed to get this off my chest!! Thanks for the vent! Nanc PS. One good thing,the manager was having a sign put up that the restaurant will honor all medical cards to save the customers from going through the "permission" process.Just show your card and order,whcih I think is great.

That just really sucks. I hate to say it but I'm glad they fired her. That kind of insensitivity and rudeness has no business in the customer service area, like a restaurant. I'm glad he was understanding and it worked out for you, but sorry you had to endure it.

Ignorant, uneducated people...prejudging is the WORST!!!!! Nancy, I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I am glad though that the manager was good, more than good about it in the end. Keep on keepin' on girlfriend!!! Jeanna

Oh my god, is that you Nancy?!! You are looking fabulous. So sorry to hear about your restaurant experience. Good for you for speaking up. I have only been brave enough on about 3 occasions to ask for the child's/ seniors menu, let alone the smaller appetite price for a buffet. I guess I should get a card as well. I know there are some that can be downloaded, especially since I don't have contact with my doc anymore. I'm glad you took the opportunity to vent, hopefully ALL your future restaurant experiences go much better. Lori